DHS considering proposal to separate children from adults at border

WASHINGTON — The Department of Homeland Security is considering a proposal to separate children from adults when they are trying to enter the country illegally at the southern border, a senior DHS official said Friday.

The proposal is meant to deter the exploitation of children, the official said.

“We are trying to find ways to deter the use of children in illegal immigration,” he said. “We are seeing kids essentially kidnapped and used to get here and stay.”

Currently, when adults enter the country accompanied by children, they are generally released into the U.S. and able to stay in the country, pending disposition of their cases, the official said.

Children are being exploited in multiple ways, the official said.

Parents are taking them on dangerous journeys and smugglers and nonparents are claiming the children as their own in order to enter and stay in the United States, he said.

The official was unable to say how agents at the border determine family relationships.

“People are taking advantage of the system,” the official said, acknowledging there might be perception issues with the proposal.

The proposal would allow U.S. immigration officials to separate children from the adults they came here with.

The adults could be kept in detention, and the children could be moved elsewhere under protected status, possibly with family members already in the country or to state protective custody, such as child protective services.

No final decision has been made on the proposal, which is still being worked on by staff, the official said.